Killed Israeli hostage’s brother says army ‘murdered’ him

An Israeli hostage who was mistakenly killed by soldiers in the Gaza Strip this week was buried on Sunday, with his brother slamming the army for having “abandoned and murdered” him.

Alon Shamriz, 26, was one of the three Israeli hostages shot dead by soldiers during an operation in the Gaza City suburb of Shejaiya, even as they carried a white flag and cried for help in Hebrew.

Shamriz, Yotam Haim and Samer El-Talalqa were killed when troops mistook them for a threat and opened fire, the army said.

“Those who abandoned you also murdered you after all that you did right,” Ido, brother of Shamriz said at the funeral in kibbutz Shefayim north of Tel Aviv attended by dozens of relatives and family members.

“You survived 70 days in hell,” Shamriz’s mother, Dikla, said in her eulogy. “Another moment and you would have been in my arms.”

Israeli media reported that Talalqa was buried on Saturday, while the funeral for Haim was scheduled on Monday.

The deaths of the three men, all in their twenties, have sparked protests in Tel Aviv as demonstrators demanded that the authorities offer a new plan for bringing home the remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday military spokesman Richard Hecht said the deaths were being investigated and what the soldiers did was “violation of the rules of engagement”.

Some 250 people were taken hostage when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to updated Israeli figures.

Vowing to destroy Hamas and bring back the hostages, Israel launched a massive military offensive against the Palestinian Islamist movement which has left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins. The territory’s Hamas government says the war has killed at least 18,800 people, mostly women and children.

At least 129 hostages are still held captive in the Gaza Strip.

ibz-jd/lcm/hkb